Hotel Puerta América

The Silken company, which operates a network of luxury hotels in Spain, had an incredibly successful year last year. The number of their hotels exceeded the 30-building mark and simultaneously crossed the borders of Spain. A few months before Hotel Puerta América, they acquired a hotel in Brussels and plan to open a luxury five-star project in the center of London this year, designed for them by Norman Foster. In the middle of last year, Silken added a very interesting project to its portfolio - Hotel Puerta América. This five-star hotel in Madrid with 342 beds was created by nineteen different architectural firms. The author of the raw structure, which resembles a book with its wings open, is SGA Estudio, which was wrapped in the poem Libertad (freedom) by Jean Nouvel. Fragments of this poem by Paul Éluard are scattered in many languages across the hotel’s facade, whether on aluminum panels or on adjustable awnings. Nouvel named the entire project "Mad Hotel," which will soon become a museum of modern design, as a different author was attached to each floor or even to the realization of parts of the building. And what happens when you gather such famous names as Jean Nouvel, Javier Mariscal and Fernando Salas, Arata Isozaki, Richard Gluckman, Kathryn Findlay, Ron Arad, Vittorio & Luchino, Eva Castro and Hoger Kehlne, David Chipperfield, Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Christian Liaigre, Marc Newson, Harrieet Bourne and Jonanthan Bell, Arnold Chan, Jasón Bruges, Teresa Sapey and Felipe Saes de Gordoa? Well, the planned budget is exceeded multiple times. It is not at all easy to keep so many competitive egos in check. However, the final result is worth those few heart attacks that tried to threaten the managers of Silken during the realization. Just pressing the button in the elevator transports you to completely different worlds and ways of perceiving architecture.
The selected architects were approached directly. All received the same area with precise room dimensions, the same amount of money, and complete freedom. Only for the realization of the fourth floor was a competition announced, which was won by the young Italian-London Plasma Studio.

Division by architects
12th and 13th floors - Jean Nouvel
11th floor - J. Mariscal and F. Salas
10th floor - Arata Isozaki
9th floor - Richard Gluckman
8th floor - Kathryn Finlay
7th floor - Ron Arad
6th floor - Marc Newson
5th floor - Vitorio & Lucchino
4th floor - Plasma Studio
3rd floor - David Chipperfield
2nd floor - Norman Foster
1st floor - Zaha Hadid
ground floor - John Pawson (lobby) and Christian Liaigre (restaurant)
garages and basement - Teresa Sapey
garden - Harriet Bourne and Jonathan Bell (architects) and Oscar Niemeyer (sculptor)

The author of the hotel cladding was also given the opportunity to design a total of 12 rooms on the twelfth floor with the epithet "libertine," which are also among the most expensive. The price of a double room here starts at 696 Euros. Jean Nouvel enlisted the collaboration of controversial Japanese artistic photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and Frenchman Alain Fleischer. The system of his apartments consists of four sliding walls that run crosswise. On two opposite walls, Araki's works - Japan in a kimono and a flower - can be seen. The movement results in psychedelic compositions. The last thirteenth floor with a pool, gym, bar, and beautiful view also comes from Nouvel's office.